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Grassroots and Advocacy Manager

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Florida seeks a Grassroots and Advocacy Manager. The Grassroots and Advocacy Manager works closely with the Field Director to achieve the organization’s goal of protecting the liberties that define our democracy. This position will be hybrid with 80% of the work being remote (in Florida) and 20% of the work in-person, will be located in the Tallahassee or Jacksonville area and includes travel.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is an affiliate of the national ACLU, a national public interest organization devoted to the defense of the Bill of Rights.  For over 100 years, the ACLU has served as the nation’s primary protector of the liberties that define our democracy.  The organization implements its vital civil liberties mission in all 50 states in large part through affiliate entities such as the ACLU of Florida. Operating out of six offices—Miami (main), Tampa, Pensacola, Orlando, Tallahassee and Jacksonville—the Florida affiliate has a budget of over $8 million and 55 staff members, placing it among the larger ACLU affiliates in the nation.  

The ACLU of Florida, the state’s largest civil rights and civil liberties organization, employs litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education to protect and promote a broad range of constitutional values and individual rights, such as freedom of speech, racial justice, right to privacy, religious liberty, criminal justice reform, voting rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, disability rights, and immigrants’ rights. The ACLU of Florida litigates a broad range of complex constitutional cases in federal and state courts through direct representation, filing amicus briefs, and submitting administrative complaints to state and federal agencies.  

ORGANIZING APPROACH

The ACLU of Florida has adopted a “campaign” approach for its work.  Work is focused on pursuing specific integrated advocacy campaigns to achieve measurable goals that will expand civil liberties and civil rights, while building the long-term power of the ACLU and the civil liberties movement.  

For the foreseeable future, the ACLU of Florida will focus on three campaigns: voting rights, criminal justice reform, and immigrant rights. The campaigns in which the organization engages are about integrated advocacy, and include lobbying, communications, and litigation in addition to grassroots organizing. 

As a result of this campaign approach, the ACLU of Florida’s organizing model focuses on developing volunteer leaders for the civil liberties movement, mobilizing grassroots support for campaign objectives, and educating Florida residents about campaign objectives through person-to-person field contact. At the ACLU of Florida organizing is intended to engage both existing ACLU members/supporters/volunteers in the movement, as well as to reach new constituencies. Organizing at the ACLU of Florida centers the experiences and leadership of directly impacted people engaging them in the work, while also ensuring that non-impacted allies take part in effective and substantive action.

The Field team works with Floridians to influence decision-makers, via direct contact of decision-makers by community members, by hosting events, and mobilizing for action. The Field Department focuses on identifying and supporting volunteer leaders willing to work to mobilize contacts in the ACLU network and within their own networks, in order to expand the size, reach, and power of the movement. 

Organizing at the ACLU of Florida is intended to complement the approaches used by some other groups—especially those that connect individuals to resources, build community/social capital, primarily react to unanticipated or emerging community concerns, or educate the public about important issues—but not to replicate those approaches.  Organizing at the ACLU of Florida is instead oriented towards systemic change and policy action—moving people to take strategic actions that lead to decision-makers making different decisions, ones that result in the advancement of specific campaign objectives.  These strategic actions can take place in the electoral, legislative, legal, and community education contexts.  Organizing at the ACLU of Florida is also designed to build long-term political and community power for the civil liberties movement, so that civil liberties and civil rights are better protected and strengthened. 

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Grassroots Advocacy Manager is a staff position within the Affiliate’s Field Department.  The position reports to the Field Director and is responsible for helping to create and oversee the implementation of comprehensive, multi-faceted organizing plans that are contained within our 3 campaigns: voting rights, criminal justice reform, and immigrant rights. This position provides critical leadership on issues related to organizing and mobilization of grassroots civil liberties/civil rights supporters in Florida. 

Areas of Responsibility: 

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES 

  • Manages a team of 6-8 organizers focused on mobilizing the community on multiple campaigns. In collaboration with the Field Director and Senior Program Manager, co-develops and implements strategic plans focused on recruitment, mobilization, and retention of ACLU FL supporters and volunteers for our three campaigns. 
  • Build relationships with local grassroots organizations who align with ACLU of FL issues.
  • Implements strategies to organize Floridians across the state to work towards achieving the ACLU of Florida’s campaign objectives and build power for the civil liberties movement, including: developing field plans, creating timelines, and turning goals and strategies into tactics. 
  • Cultivates opportunities for volunteers to advance their level of engagement in the community.
  • Co-develops and implements strategies for grassroots supporters to engage policymakers, stakeholders, and opinion leaders from all ends of the political and ideological spectrum, in ways that achieve the organization’s policy campaign objectives. 
  • Works with local grassroots organizations to implement non-partisan, non-political strategies to educate the public about accessing the ballot, GOTV, and candidates’ positions on civil liberties and civil rights.
  • Serve as a spokesperson, as needed.
Skills/Experience: 

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

While no one person will have all the qualities enumerated below, the successful candidate will bring many of the following qualifications and attributes:

  • 4  years of professional organizing, policy advocacy, legislative, or campaign experience.
  • 2 years of supervision/management experience, ability to coach staff, navigating challenging relationships, project planning, and developing growth plans.
  • Strong track record of mobilizing large numbers of people into action, and building community leadership.
  • Past success in developing and implementing campaign strategy and tactics for volunteer engagement to advance local and  state policy change.
  • Strong public speaking and facilitation skills, familiarity with and comfort talking about a wide range of civil liberties and civil rights issues on behalf of the organization and in a variety of settings. 
  • Extremely strong project and time management skills, including developing and adhering to timelines and deadlines, tracking progress on goals, and managing and prioritizing competing projects for individual work, for supervised staff, and for lateral colleagues. 
  • Very skilled at giving feedback to direct reports and identifying opportunities for their further development. 
  • Excellent relationship building skills and experience working effectively with community groups and members, especially with people from mixed backgrounds or knowledge bases and comfortable in implementing standard equity and inclusion practices.
  • Ability to work collaboratively with a variety of organizational stakeholders and resolve conflicts, including staff, volunteer, and complex partnerships or coalitions. 
  • Ability to think proactively, anticipate problems, analyze situations, develop and implement effective solutions and take initiative. 
  • Adaptability and capacity to change course quickly when required, propose new ideas or solutions, or take on temporary added work as needed. 
  • Comfort with high levels of ambiguity, especially when developing new programs or trying new things. 
  • Ability to cope and respond strategically when dealing with stressful situations, including in supervision, working with the Field Director to propose solutions to address problematic volunteers, supporting staff in navigating challenges with other staff or volunteers, or challenges with partner organizations. 
  • Excellent judgment, especially when dealing with sensitive situations or information, including legal and personnel matters. 
  • Commitment to racial justice and other forms of equity and understanding of how to advance racial justice and other forms of equity in all aspects of the job. 
  • Available for weekend and evening responsibilities
  • Available for travel throughout the State of Florida;
  • Valid driver’s license and ability to drive throughout Florida.

Preferred but NOT required: 

  • Familiarity with organizing tools like Mobilize, VAN (the Voter Activation Network), Scale to Win, preferred but not required.
  • Prior knowledge and experience working in Florida is a plus, but not required. 
  • Fluency in Spanish or Creole a plus, but not required.
Compensation/Benefits: 

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Compensation will be commensurate with experience, within the range of $65,000 - $75,000.   The ACLU of Florida provides excellent benefits, including health and dental insurance with generous vacation, holiday and sick leave policies, as well as a Defined Contribution 401K Retirement Plan. Base vacation leave is five weeks per year (and six weeks per year after five years).

How to Apply: 

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Please send cover letter, resume, by email to [email protected]. All inquiries should include Grassroots and Advocacy Manager in the subject line and all attachments should be in Microsoft Word or PDF format.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Please indicate where you learned from this job posting. No phone calls, please.

This job description provides a general but not comprehensive list of the essential responsibilities and qualifications required. It does not represent a contract of employment. The ACLU of Florida reserves the right to change the job description and/or posting at any time without advance notice.

The ACLU of Florida is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. The ACLU of Florida encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, LGBTQIA+, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, or veteran status. We encourage formerly incarcerated individuals to apply. If selected for an interview, please inquire if financial assistance is needed to attend.

At the ACLU of Florida, we value diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion and embrace the uniqueness of everyone. We seek to create a place of belonging where candidates of diverse backgrounds will be included, represented, and heard.

The ACLU of Florida makes every effort to assure that its recruitment and employment efforts provide persons with disabilities with full opportunities for employment in all positions.

The ACLU of Florida undertakes affirmative action strategies in its recruitment and employment efforts to assure that persons with disabilities have full opportunities for employment in all positions.

Organization Info

American Civil Liberties Union of Florida

Overview
Headquarters: 
Miami, FL, USA
About Us
Programs: 

The ACLU of Florida is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that employs litigation, public policy advocacy, communications, and organizing to protect and promote a broad range of individual rights and freedoms, including the freedom of speech, voting rights, racial justice, privacy, religious liberty, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and immigrants’ rights.

Why Work For Us?: 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida is an affiliate of the national ACLU, a national public interest organization devoted to the defense of the Bill of Rights.  For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has served as the nation’s primary protector of the liberties that define our democracy.   The organization implements its vital civil liberties mission in all 50 states in large part through affiliate entities such as the ACLU of Florida. Operating on a $5.4 million budget out of four offices—Miami (main), Tampa, Pensacola, and Jacksonville—the Florida affiliate has 36 staff members, making it among the larger ACLU affiliates in the nation.

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Listing Stats

Post Date: 
Feb 2 2023
Active Until: 
Mar 2 2023
Hiring Organization: 
American Civil Liberties Union of Florida
industry: 
Nonprofit